Video: Tame Impala, "Mind Mischief"

Despite the fact that Tame Impala are wholly indebted to the entire lineage of psych-rock, they've generally stayed away from the imagery that is often associated with the genre, eschewing the warrior-princess-in-animal-fur-bikini-wielding-a-sword-that-is-actually-a-bong vibe that you might find airbrushed on the side of a van somewhere in the suburbs. That said, the video for "Mind Mischief," directed by David Wilson, features a school kid's fantasy about his teacher, which culminates in an animated cosmic sex scene that might as well have come straight out of Heavy Metal. It's an entertaining thing to watch, but as with everything Tame Impala does, it works because of what's buried right under the surface. Lonerism is about being stuck in your own head, watching the world move at a disconnect. So hearing frontman Kevin Parker sing from inside his mind while this adolescent fantasy plays out is its own kind of purgatory. Sometimes, your mind is the safest place you can be, even if that means that you're going to dream up a fantasy where you have sex with your teacher in space just as she blows up your entire body from the inside. Spoiler alert? Tame Impala's Lonerism is out now on Modular, with a "Mind Mischief" 12-inch featuring remixes by Ducktails and The Field to follow on March 2nd.